Monday, April 19, 2010

Lester Brown was invited to participate on an Earth Day-themed panel discussion on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC with director James Cameron, actress Sigourney Weaver, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, columnist Tom Friedman, radio host Richard Greene, and other figures on Thursday, April 15 to discuss the urgency of climate change action. Participants were also treated to a private screening of Cameron’s blockbuster 3-D movie Avatar. (Read the Washington Post article on the event.)As many of you may already know, Avatar is a science fiction movie set in the year 2154. The main conflict concerns a rare precious mineral called "unobtanium," something highly valued by humans. As Sanho Tree, a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, notes in his review of the movie, “Unobtanium serves as a generic placeholder for the commodities we extract from native lands: oil, gold, silver, lumber, pasture or any other thing of value according to market forces. How much unobtanium is enough? … no amount can satiate modern society's never-ending desires.”

Cameron said this movie about the environment is "meant to be a call to action" and "a warning of what's happening.”

To our surprise, during the panel Cameron announced to the 300-plus audience that he had read Lester’s book Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization not just once but four times. He said it was the best big picture summary of what is going on with the environment and on what we can do to save civilization. He personally told Lester the same thing when the two met for the first time.

Sigourney Weaver introduced herself to Lester, saying how much she admired his work. Lester was delighted to meet both Cameron and Weaver and to speak with them about the current state of the environment and the need to move forward with solutions.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) was another public figure that came out to support this panel. The main reason, he said when he introduced himself to Lester, was to meet Lester in person as he was a great follower of Lester's work.

We value this kind of support, and hope it can turn into actions that will ensure a livable planet for us all.

Meanwhile, this week we celebrate Earth Day. Lester will be giving talks in the Washington, DC area. If you’re close by, check out the presentations.

And if you aren’t in the DC area, remember to check out the great Earth Day events around your area at the Earth Day website.

Sincerely,

Reah Janise KauffmanVice President

P.S. If the Icelandic volcano permits, Lester will soon be embarking on a 5-week book tour in Europe and Asia, even touching down briefly in the United States. See our Events page for details, which will be updated in the coming weeks.